Bangladesh recorded its deadliest month of the year for dengue in October, with 173 deaths as health experts warned that the outbreak is likely to persist through November and may not ease significantly until December.
The country reported 418 dengue deaths and more than 133,000 hospital admissions between Jan. 1 and Oct. 30, according to Health Ministry data. October's toll surpassed September's 148 deaths, making it the deadliest month of 2026 so far.
The surge comes as Bangladesh is also struggling with the world's worst measles outbreak, which has killed more than 1,200 people, placing additional pressure on an already overstretched health care system.
Hospitals under pressure
Doctors said many dengue patients were arriving at hospitals only after developing serious complications, making treatment more difficult.
At the state-run Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital in Dhaka, 279 dengue patients were receiving treatment after 67 new admissions in a single day, hospital director Mirza Golam Sarwar said.
"We are getting many patients in shock. Their blood pressure sometimes is too low to measure, and their oxygen levels are dropping," he said.
Medicine specialist ABM Abdullah said repeat infections, coupled with delays in diagnosis and treatment, were contributing to the rise in severe cases and deaths.
People who have previously contracted dengue face a greater risk of serious illness if infected again, he said, urging residents to eliminate mosquito breeding sites and seek medical attention as soon as symptoms appear.
The danger of repeated infections is a growing concern for residents such as Dhaka's Faisal Ferdous, who has contracted dengue three times, in 2017, 2024 and again earlier this month.
"This time, both my wife and I needed hospital treatment," said Ferdous, who is now recovering at home.
He said the couple fell ill shortly after spending several days at a hospital where their 5-year-old son was receiving treatment for an unrelated illness.
"Every bout has been difficult. After getting it repeatedly, you become increasingly concerned about the risk of severe illness," he said.
Health experts have also warned that the circulation of all four dengue virus serotypes is contributing to more severe infections. People previously infected with one serotype can develop more serious complications when subsequently infected with another.
Bangladesh has yet to introduce a dengue vaccine, although authorities are considering vaccination as a longer-term measure to tackle the disease.
Climate change
Despite the October surge, entomologist Kabirul Bashar of Jahangirnagar University said the monthly death toll was unlikely to continue rising at the same pace. However, he warned that dengue transmission would probably remain high through November.
"We may see some relief, but dengue is unlikely to disappear in November. Any decline is likely to be modest, with significant improvement unlikely before December," he said.
Bashar said mosquitoes would continue emerging from breeding sites created by earlier rainfall, allowing transmission to persist even as weather conditions become drier.
He also pointed to changing rainfall and humidity patterns, partly linked to climate change, which are extending mosquito breeding seasons and allowing Aedes mosquitoes, the primary carriers of dengue, to remain active for longer.
The prolonged transmission season, combined with repeat infections and mounting pressure on hospitals, means Bangladesh is unlikely to see a substantial improvement in its dengue situation before the end of the year.